Officers lose firearms over domestic violence incidents

ISTANBUL

Hürriyet photo

Over 4,000 officers of the army and police forces have lost the right to bear arms after the recent domestic violence regulation law went into effect last March, according to numbers released by Turkey’s Family and Social Policies Ministry.

The Ministry of Family and Social Policies recently increased measures taken against domestic violence cases with new initiatives attempting to both help victims and prevent new cases from taking place.

Weapons of over 15,000 people involved in cases of violence against women have been confiscated by security officials since March, 4,000 of them belonging to police or army officers. The firearms were collected despite legal authorization or occupational privileges.

Thousands of women were provided protection in accordance with the new law and around 2,000 men were sent to treatment for abusing their partners.

The regulation was enacted last year for “the protection of the family and prevention of violence against women.” The law established precautionary measures regarding domestic violence cases as well as those that may prevent the occurrence of violence once the threat is present.

Numbers from the ministry show that over 8,000 decisions were made nationwide to protect victims and nearly 60,000 made to prevent future cases. Istanbul was the city in which the most prevention measures were ordered, with 12,204. Ankara and İzmir followed Istanbul with 7,659 and 7,163, respectively.

The Ministry also launched a campaign recently with the partnership of several grocery stores that have agreed to distribute paper bags with words against domestic violence printed on them, according to daily Habertürk. Some of the campaign slogans include “No tolerance for violence against women” and “Say no to violence against women for a stronger society.” The bags aim to reach families and alter their views on domestic violence.

Emergency panic buttons were also recently distributed in two regions of Turkey chosen as pilot areas: the northwestern province of Bursa and the southern province of Adana. The buttons work on a GSM network, aiming to provide the user with self-confidence while working as a deterrent for men who might attempt to exercise violence against their spouse.